Crush
by ryukin
Summary: Irvine rants about the unattainable beauty that is Squall Leonhart


"Squall! Squall, wake up!" Selphie shook the sleeping boy gently. He moaned and opened an eye.  
  
"C'mon; Time to move out!" She swung her bag over her shoulder and opened the door. She stood in the hallway and looked back with a grin, "I'm starting the car." She left.  
  
Squall rolled over on his stomach and put the pillow over his head. "Why do we have ta go now?" he complained, voice thick with sleep.  
  
If we stay can I crawl in that bed with you, Squall baby?  
  
"'Cause. You're the one who wrote the itinerary, leader-boy," Irvine teased. He threw Squall's jacket on his bed. "Anyway, you can sleep more on the road."  
  
Picking up his pants from the floor, Squall rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. Irvine watched him stop and stretch, white tee shirt rising to show some belly. The barest peek of black cotton shorts showed above the waistband of his pajamas. Irvine blushed slightly and turned away.  
  
As the cowboy picked up his knapsack and shouldered his rifle, Squall emerged from the bathroom, looking oddly naked in just a fresh white shirt and favorite leather pants. None of his bondagey-fun belts were on and he was carrying his jacket and boots. His hair was still tousled from sleep and his eyes weren't fully opened yet.  
  
"Hey, man. You look wiped. What'd ya do last night, huh?"  
  
Squall gave a half-hearted shrug and yawned.  
  
"Okay. Gimme that; I'll take yer bag. You just go downstairs. Selphie has the car waiting out front."  
  
Squall nodded and moved to the hallway. Irvine, arms loaded down, snagged their door with the pointy toe of his boot and skillfully shut it behind him. He watched Squall carefully as they went down the stairs, making sure he wouldn't trip.  
  
Yah, right.  
  
Instead, he found his eyes traveling to the boy's ass, smooth and perfect in the black leather with no clunky belts obscuring the view.  
  
Mmmm.  
  
Irvine had to look away before he began to drool.  
  
The desk girl looked up as the boys walked out. "Good bye, sirs. Hope ya'all enjoyed your stay!"  
  
"Yup. Thanks!" Irvine called back as the door swung shut.  
  
Selphie had a hideous green rental car idling out front. She popped the hood for Irvine, who thankfully threw his load down. He laid Squall's blade down last, carefully, surprised with it's remarkable weight. Squall certainly wasn't that bulky - how did he manage to swing it around?  
  
Squall sighed and leaned on the cowboy's shoulder, surprising him. Smiling to himself, Irvine took Squall's jacket and shoes and tossed them in back too before closing the trunk.  
  
"C'mon, man. Sleep in the car, not the parking lot."  
  
"Mm-'kay," Squall yawned, grabbing onto Irvine's arm. He snuggled tighter against the cowboy's body.  
  
"Hyne, you're sure friendly today, man," Irvine commented. He couldn't figure out how to get the half-asleep boy into the car, so he jabbed him in the side with his finger.  
  
"Ow!" Squall jumped, opening his eyes enough to give Irvine his trademark glare. He crawled into the back seat on Irvine's order, but grabbed the sheepskin trim of his coat before Irvine closed the door on him.  
  
"No. Sit back here." Squall looked up through his thick eyelashes and shaggy bangs.  
  
Hyne. Talk about wet dream material.  
  
Irvine was standing in the parking lot staring at him when Squall begged, "Please."  
  
Please?  
  
Irvine glanced at Selphie revving the motor impatiently, shrugged, and climbed in next to Squall. As Selphie pulled out of the lot, Squall leaned on Irvine's shoulder again. He sighed and then curled up into a ball on the seat, head on the Irvine's lap. His breathing deepened as he fell back asleep.  
  
Irvine and Selphie rode in silence for a while. Selphie finally got bored and turned the radio on real low. Irvine looked down at Squall and toyed absently with his hair.  
  
Such pretty hair. Matches his face.  
  
Wonder if the rest of his body's this great?  
  
He was completely lost in his thoughts of naked Squall when Selphie piped up, "You look awfully comfortable..."  
  
"Oh!" Irvine jumped in his seat, hurled back into reality.  
  
Damn.  
  
Squall twitched as the boy settled back into his seat. He curled a hand gently around the outside of Irvine's thigh. "Um...yah...I guess so." He blushed and looked out the window, hand still playing through Squall's hair. Selphie watched him in the rearview mirror.  
  
She giggled. "I mean, you look really comfortable..."  
  
Irvine blushed harder, leaning his face on his free hand, elbow propped precariously on the window ledge.  
  
"Ahh..." Selphie nodded and turned back to the road. "I thought so..."  
  
...  
  
Squall sighed, stretched out further along the bench seat, and scooted his head higher in Irvine's denim and suede-clad lap. Watching him, Irvine asked, "You thought so what?"  
  
"Oh...um - hm." She thought for a moment. "You - ya like him, don't you?" she finally asked softly, kindly.  
  
Irvine paused a moment before answering.  
  
Hell-fuckin'-yes.  
  
"Yah. Yah, I do," he said quickly, "And I don't know why I'm telling you this 'cause I've never told anyone before andifyoublabberaboutI'll personally rip yer head off."  
  
Selphie laughed quietly as to not disturb sleeping Squall. "Don't worry. I keep secrets well."  
  
"I know."  
  
They continued on in silence again. Selphie fiddled around with the radio until she found a song she liked.  
  
"I, um, never thought you were into guys, Irvine..." Selphie treaded cautiously.  
  
"I'm not. In general. I mean, I'll see a guy sometimes and think 'Hot damn, nice ass' or something, but ... I donno."  
  
"Yah. Yah. Squall does that to people. You see him, you want him, but you know you can't have him."  
  
That sums things up nicely.  
  
Irvine nodded. "People always want what they cannot have..." he quoted.  
  
"Quisty, 'Noa and I call it the 'Squall Effect'. We've even thought of holding SE Anonymous meetings," she chuckled.  
  
Irvine laughed too, under his breath, gently brushing Squall's hair back from his sculpted face.  
  
"A support group. That's just what I need."  
  
"You can totally join! We won't even make fun of you ... Much." She turned to face the beet-red cowboy and laughed. "Just kidding!"  
  
Even with her reassurance, Irvine hid his flaming face under the brim of his hat for a few. "Um...you really won't tell anyone about this?" he asked quietly, almost shyly. "'Specially Squall? I - I don't want him to know."  
  
"Cross my heart. But why not? Nothing can ever happen if you leave him in the dark..."  
  
"I know. I also know that if he's not interested, which he's not, he'd never speak to me again. He's...I donno. Easily spooked. And if nothing else, I want to keep him as a friend." Irvine patted the boy's shoulder and looked up to see Selphie nodding, eyes on the highway.  
  
"I understand. But still...he's there. And he's available..." she hinted.  
  
"What!" Irvine snapped. Squall's face scrunched up in his sleep, disturbed. Irvine stared at him and clamped his mouth shut. Quieter, he continued, "I thought he and Rinoa..."  
  
"Nope." Selphie shook her head. "Rinoa told me the other day that nothing at all happened between them. She kissed him once, but he just wasn't interested."  
  
"But all that time - he went so far out of his way to rescue her all those times. Why would he do that?"  
  
"I think he'd do that for any of us. Me, or Zell, Quisty, even you. We're his friends. And whether we all remember it or not, we grew up together. We're all the closest people he's got."  
  
Irvine's hand lingered on Squall's shoulder. "Maybe I should go get myself kidnapped or something and wait for him to save me. Think he'd let me 'thank' him for his daring rescue?"  
  
Selphie choked on a laugh. She cough-laughed until she regained control.  
  
"It's not funny," Irvine insisted as he himself chuckled.  
  
Irvine thought for a moment, running a finger down Squall's cheek line. "I wonder..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Irvine leaned down, close enough to smell the gentle scent of leather that clung to Squall like cologne. His hair rustled under his gentle breaths. "I just ... wonder," he said quietly.  
  
"'C'mon. Tell me," Selphie begged.  
  
Irvine sat back and rested his head back on the seat. "I wonder if he'd ever let me near him."  
  
"He seems pretty close right now."  
  
"Yah, but..."  
  
"You didn't put his head there. He pulled you back into the seat with him."  
  
"That doesn't mean he's interested, Seph."  
  
"But it doesn't mean he's not..."  
  
"Hyne," Irvine muttered, shaking his head. "Even if he was, he's too freakin' shy to let me do ... anything. And it's killing me, man! I want him so bad, every time I see him, and I know I can't ever be with him!"  
  
I wanna know how he tastes...  
  
I wanna rip 'is clothes off and lick him all over...  
  
I wanna wake up with him in my bed, in my arms, in my life...  
  
"I wanna kiss 'im." Irvine said suddenly. "Find out what he tastes like. See if he'll kiss me back or punch my face in. And then I want to do it again, even if he did sock me. I wanna sneak out to see him in the middle of the night. Or maybe see if he'd sneak around for me. I just want him." He heaved a deep sight. "I..." he trailed off.  
  
Selphie cleared her throat. "You've thought about this a lot, then?"  
  
"Oh, way too much. 'Specially since nothing'll ever happen. I'll never tell 'im. It's not worth loosing what I already have." He shook his head and looked grim.  
  
Selphie stopped for the train running at the crossroads. She continued on as it passed, bells sounding further and further away. "Irvine," she said, looking into his eyes through the rearview mirror. "I still think you should tell him..."  
  
Squall rolled onto his back, stretched, yawned, and slowly opened his eyes. "Tell who what?"  
  
Irvine nervously pulled his hand back to his own body as Squall sat up and moved into his own seat.  
  
"Tell you that I'm hungry," Selphie said quickly, covering. "So we're doin' gas stop brunch today, peeps. My treat."  
  
"Sounds great. Nothing wakes ya up like gas station coffee," he said, stretching again and looking out the window.  
  
Selphie looked at Irvine through the mirror again. He mouthed 'thanks' and Selphie winked at him, glanced toward Squall, and flashed her eyes. Irvine stuck out his tongue at her.  
  
Squall brushed his fingertips softly against Irvine's coat sleeve to get his attention. "Thanks for letting me use your lap."  
  
Oh, Hyne, I wanna hear you say that again!  
  
Irvine felt a light blush cross his cheeks again. "Any time, man."  
  
"How long was I out?" Squall asked to no one in particular, leaning side to side to loosen his back. He almost leaned on Irvine again.  
  
"Donno. Over an hour, maybe one and a half," Selphie answered. She turned off the main highway and onto city streets.  
  
"Where are we?" Irvine looked out the window, ignoring Squall's heat so close. Unfamiliar city scenery whizzed past the car.  
  
"Some nowhere's vill north of Winhill and south of Dolet," Selphie answered cryptically. She pulled into a gas station, motioning the boys to get out. "I'll fill the tank. You two grab some stale donuts and stuff. Here," she dug some money out of the cargo pocket on her skirt. Thrusting it into Irvine's hand, she said, "Go wild. Get lots of stale donuts."  
  
"Ooo - thanks," Irvine grinned sarcastically.  
  
Squall grabbed his boots from the trunk and hopped out of the car after Irvine. The cowboy waited for his friend to pull his boots on over bare feet. With the all the dark leather, loose boots, and accidental fashionably tousled hair, he looked appealingly punk. Before Irvine could stop himself, he smiled and blushed with lust.  
  
"C'mon," he ordered, turning into the store before Squall noticed. He grabbed a box of mixed pastries from the front and Squall went to the back corner to get coffee for everyone.  
  
Squall carefully filled the largest cups to the brim - cappuccino for Selphie, straight black for himself, and a super-chocolate mocha with extra foam and cocoa for Irvine. He still didn't know how the boy could process that much sugar in the morning.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Squall turned around and saw Irvine come up behind him. "Hey," he half- grinned.  
  
"Thought I'd come help ya." The cowboy set down the pink box and reached for lids for the coffees. Squall took them from him, making sure to touch Irvine's hand longer than necessary.  
  
"I heard you," he said quietly.  
  
"What?" Irvine leaned down, closer to Squall, confused.  
  
"In the car." Squall looked up. "I heard you."  
  
The color drained from Irvine's face.  
  
NoNoNoHewasasleepNo ...  
  
"Oh." He bit on the corner of his lip. "Oh. H-how much?"  
  
"Everything."  
  
"Oh. I - thought you were asleep..."  
  
"Surprise."  
  
"Um..." Irvine hummed, trying to fill the tense silence. He lost his death pallor and flushed bright red as Squall shifted his weight nervously in front of him and looked into his eyes.  
  
"Well, I just," Squall looked down again and toed the green tile floor mindlessly. "I just thought I could help you ... curb ... some curiosities..." He looked up at Irvine through his dark eyelashes.  
  
"What?" Irvine stammered, confused again.  
  
Squall stood up on his toes so he was level with the taller boy, braced his hands on the Irvine's shoulders, and slowly moved to kiss him.  
  
Squall's lips were gentle and soft as he pressed them against Irvine's. His eyes fluttered closed as he tilted his head to get better access to the cowboy's mouth.  
  
Squall softly kissed Irvine in his stunned state a few times before the boy actually kissed him back. They both gradually pressed harder, lips parting slowly. Irvine inched his tongue into Squall's hot mouth. It was met with Squall's own, dancing around between their mouths.  
  
Squall moaned and pressed his body to the other boy's, urging him on. Irvine eagerly kissed him harder, tasting every corner of Squall's mouth and sucking on his bottom lip. He wrapped his arms around Squall, not wanting to let him go.  
  
Ever.  
  
Enveloping Irvine in his own embrace, Squall caressed down the boy's broad back and nibbled on his lips.  
  
The smaller boy's kisses became longer and gentler until their lips barely touched at all.  
  
"We - we should probably get back to the car..." Irvine whispered as Squall's lips gently grazed his own.  
  
With one last deep, penetrating kiss, Squall pulled back. "Yah, probably." He grinned, snuggling deeper into Irvine's hold. "But do you feel better now? A bit less curious?"  
  
"Actually, I'm a little more now."  
  
"Good." Squall grinned, "That leaves something for later..." 


End file.
